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My Homeschool Journal – July 2017

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In My Life This Month The past several weeks I have been weary, if I am going to be totally honest. The summer heat and humidity always wear me out. Upheaval in my home always wears on me. And I've been drowning in the minutia of updating 250+ printable products and then updating them on three sites where I sell them (mine, TPT, and Educents) instead of thinking and writing new posts and creating new products. I'm an INFJ so I don't do extended minutia well. And between home renovations and printables, I'm swimming in the minutia of choices, changes, uploads, and details every day. I'm incredibly grateful we are doing all this. I've named this Transformation Summer 2017 because we're … [Read more...] about My Homeschool Journal – July 2017

Online Math for Relaxed Homeschoolers

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We've been relaxed homeschoolers bordering on unschoolers for most of Caroline's elementary years. We've done some math with worksheets, workbooks, and play websites, but it has been more "living math" in terms of doing math when it matters in real life. That said, I knew there were holes in Caroline's math education to this point in terms of traditionally where a child her age "should be" in math. I also knew that she wouldn't understand some terminology used in standardized tests or, for example, when we had her gifted testing done. There would be terms and ideas very familiar to kids who did formal math work that would be completely foreign to her. I admit I've always felt a bit … [Read more...] about Online Math for Relaxed Homeschoolers

My Homeschool Journal – June 2017

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In My Life This Month Isn't the release into the freedom of summer one of the most wonderful feelings in the world? We have very little that is scheduled regularly during the school year, but there is something about that feeling of no commitments, no schedules, and very few expectations that makes me very happy. This month we are concentrating on finishing up most of painting and redecorating in our home. We've lived here six years and we are finally making it "ours." We did finish up Caroline's room a few weeks ago which I linked to below. It turned out very well. But I'm so excited to have everything be freshly painted and with new carpet and wood laminate in the house. My dust … [Read more...] about My Homeschool Journal – June 2017

Chalkboard Walls in a Kid’s Room and Chalk Allergy

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When we redecorated Caroline's bedroom, we decided to include a chalkboard wall. She's creative and we knew she would have lots of fun with it. Well, this decision to put a chalkboard wall in a kid's bedroom took a few twists and turns we did not expect. I didn't anticipate I would be writing an entire post about this or I would have taken more photos and so on. But what we learned is really important and I want this post out there for other parents to find and learn from our experience. Hence two posts - a post about decorating a tween girl's bedroom and a post about chalkboard walls. Painting a Chalkboard Wall We selected a wall that would be large enough for Caroline to enjoy using as a … [Read more...] about Chalkboard Walls in a Kid’s Room and Chalk Allergy

Decorating a Tween Girl’s Bedroom

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Caroline was ready for a room update after six years of a little girl's room. It was time to jump into decorating a tween girl's bedroom which was fun! She likes color so I knew whatever she chose would be bright and cheerful. Caroline started by selecting her bedding (which you can see above) and then we made the other decisions around that. Caroline made a sign and we were ready to get started! (Although I'm not sure how the renovations would get done if we stayed out...) Caroline's Tween Girl Bedroom Decor Caroline's room was a pretty medium purple color. She chose Valspar Ocean Whisper for her new color. I was concerned it might be too bright when we tried a sample on the wall, … [Read more...] about Decorating a Tween Girl’s Bedroom

Sallie’s Miscellany – May 9, 2017

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Sallie's Miscellany features reader questions, links, ideas, and products to help homeschoolers and parents. I publish it as I receive questions and have enough other worthwhile links and products to share. If you would like to submit a question for consideration, please contact me via the form found here. Good Reads I can't remember how I found this tool, but it looks fascinating: Through Your Child's Eyes "It’s one thing to read about learning and attention issues. It’s another thing to see them through your child’s eyes. Experience firsthand how frustrating it is when your hand won’t write what your brain is telling it to. Or how hard it is to complete a simple task when you have … [Read more...] about Sallie’s Miscellany – May 9, 2017

The Importance of Deschooling the Homeschool Mom

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When the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum announced that the topic for May would be about transitioning between public school and homeschool, I wasn't sure I had much to offer since we've always homeschooled Caroline. But I realized I do have a lot to say about that transition for all homeschool families, not just families with a gifted child. I'm offering my perspective as a homeschooling mom who attended public school (kindergarten through college), has a teaching degree, and who struggled with this transition. It has to do with the importance of deschooling mom. Deschooling the Homeschool Mom Before we dive into the topic of deschooling, take this quick quiz by responding to each statement … [Read more...] about The Importance of Deschooling the Homeschool Mom

My Homeschool Journal – May 2017

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In My Life This Month If you thought it seemed like it had been a bit since I put up a new post, you would be correct. One of the changes I've made as I started thinking about pursuing a quiet simple life again is to not pressure myself to produce content all the time. I realized a few weeks ago that we've lived in this house six years (this week). Caroline was four and a half when we moved in. She's now pushing toward eleven. In the same amount of time moving forward that we've already lived here, she'll be pushing seventeen. The past six years have been a blur and it struck me (hard) how little time we have left before she is an adult. It's mind-blowing to this mom who was married nine … [Read more...] about My Homeschool Journal – May 2017

Embracing the Journey of Parenting a 2e Child

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I recently had an epiphany after trying to explain twice-exceptional (2e) to someone who, for whatever reason, fails to understand it or chooses not to understand it despite my trying on more than one occasion. While processing my disappointment and frustration with this person basically blowing off my explanation of the professional testing we had done and what we learned, I realized something. 2e is a Hidden Reality If my daughter had been born blind, deaf, diabetic, or missing a limb, everyone would understand it. It would be right there in front of them. But because with twice-exceptionality the challenges originate in the brain where they can't be seen, there is less understanding. No … [Read more...] about Embracing the Journey of Parenting a 2e Child

My Homeschool Journal – April 2017

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In My Life This Month Last month I said that I was playing catch-up after Caroline was sick and then I was. Well, lather, rinse, repeat. I'm coming off the cold Caroline brought home. This time we all went through it and I got the tail end of it all. I keep looking at my calendar and thinking I have these wide open weeks to get things done and then boom! Sickness derails it all a bit. David and I have been doing a bunch of things behind the scenes to make this site run better. We moved to https which basically means my site is super duper extra secure and Google won't ding me in search results. For some reason, random posts are now missing their Amazon images so as I discover those I fix … [Read more...] about My Homeschool Journal – April 2017

Classical Conversations Negatives and Why We Didn’t Join

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One of the most popular homeschooling programs currently available is Classical Conversations (CC). There are many people who enthusiastically participate and current members can be very persuasive when inviting people to join. When CC came to our area a few years ago, I checked it out since I had taught for a year in a Classical Christian school and I was very familiar with the concept of classical education. CC offered a number of things that interested me including the advertised community aspect. In fact, I checked it out two years in a row because I really wanted to like it and I wanted it to be a good fit for our family. Classical Conversations Negatives In the end, we opted not to … [Read more...] about Classical Conversations Negatives and Why We Didn’t Join

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